Insider Selling: Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) CFO Sells $67,987.80 in Stock

Escalade, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ESCA) CFO Stephen Wawrin sold 3,177 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.40, for a total value of $67,987.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $963,000. This trade represents a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Escalade Stock Performance

NASDAQ ESCA opened at $22.60 on Friday. Escalade, Incorporated has a one year low of $11.41 and a one year high of $23.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.07 and a 200 day moving average of $17.54. The company has a market capitalization of $311.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.58.

Escalade (NASDAQ:ESCA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $57.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.60 million. Escalade had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 13.11%. On average, equities analysts predict that Escalade, Incorporated will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Escalade Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $0.61 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Escalade’s dividend payout ratio is 36.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Escalade

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESCA. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Escalade in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Escalade by 439.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Escalade during the second quarter valued at approximately $156,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Escalade by 13.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Escalade during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Escalade from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research raised Escalade from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Escalade from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Escalade currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

About Escalade

Escalade, Inc is a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of recreational equipment and specialty products for both consumer and commercial markets. Headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, the company operates through two principal business segments: Sporting Goods and Commercial Products. The Sporting Goods segment encompasses a diverse range of products such as hockey and lacrosse goal assemblies, fitness accessories, archery and hunting gear, and table tennis equipment. The Commercial Products segment focuses on seating solutions for restaurants, hospitality venues and other public spaces under the Top Seat brand, as well as storage, display products and industrial carts.

Within Sporting Goods, Escalade markets its products under proprietary brands including Bear® Archery, Gene St.